Kurt Busch: ‘I Was Going to Wreck Him’

Kurt Busch was prepared to not show any brotherly love to his brother Kyle in trying to win Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Busch brothers wound up finishing 1-2 in the eighth race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season with Kyle scoring win number three of the year. Although Kurt couldn’t get to the rear bumper of his younger brother and ultimately finished second, he was prepared to get physical if needed to win.

“It was tough battling our No. 1 Chevy, the Monster Energy team is doing a good job,” Busch said. “That one is tough. I really wanted to beat him. I was going to wreck him. I wanted to stay close enough so when we took the exit I was going to drive straight into three and four.

“He already won. Figure he could give a little love to his brother. I wanted that one bad. I feel like him right now, I’m all mad because I didn’t win.”

Busch had a rough qualifying outing on Friday and officially took the green flag from the 27th starting spot. But like he did last week at Texas, Busch made his way to the front of the field in short order and eventually claimed his best finish of the season.

Like Kyle, Busch did not pit during a late caution and stayed out rather than opting for fresher tires.

This car, we were struggling on qualifying, we struggle on taking off,” Busch explained. “I just can’t get that right rear to grip till it gets heat in it. It’s hard to be patient when you’re running for the win on old tires.”

Busch has now finished in the top 10 in six of the last seven races. He’s off to a strong start at Chip Ganassi Racing but is still frustrated he couldn’t win on Sunday.

“I’m happy that we were in position to do it,” he said. “This group of guys, we’re not quite ready to win yet, but that was close. I was going to wreck my little brother to win today. With three laps to go, stepped out in turn one, and I wasn’t close enough after that.”

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